Between Right and Wrong and the Blue Wall
by Animaltalker
Summary: A companion piece to the episode Corruption


Lennie left Betty and walked back across the street to his apartment building. If he'd been feeling bad before he talked to her, it was worse now. He checked his box for mail, tucking what he'd found in his left hand and then climbed the flight of stairs to his apartment. He hoped his neighbor Mrs. Landers didn't happen to be around, she could be nosy and he didn't need that right now.

"Hello Leonard," she greeted him.

"Hi Mrs. Landers," Lennie replied, trying to give her one of charming smiles, despite how he felt.

Leonard," she said reaching out a hand and grasping his forearm in a surprisingly strong grip. "I want you to know I don't believe a word that fellow Flynn said. I've got no idea why he's trying to ruin your good name, but I just know your not that sort of fellow," she said with great conviction.

"Thanks Mrs. Landers," Lennie said, and he found he really meant it. It was nice to hear that somebody who wasn't particularly close to him thought he couldn't have stolen the drugs from the 1-16.

"Well, I better let you go. I'm sure it's been a trying day for you," and with that she released his arm and slipped into her own apartment.

As he closed his apartment door behind him, Lennie said, "Yeah, a trying day and more of them to come."

Lennie threw the mail onto the pass-through between the dining/living room and the kitchen, glanced at his answering machine which was blinking, but decided he wasn't up to listening to the messages just yet, instead he began discarding his clothes and shoes, not really caring where they ended up. He aimed his pants, belt and all, towards his bed through the open door of his bedroom, and then turned and went into the bathroom. Turning the shower on, he finished stripping. As the water beat down on him, Lennie began envisioning the next few days of his life. At some point the Hellman commission was going to subpoena him and ask him a lot of very difficult questions. Until he saw Betty, he hadn't been quite sure what the answer was to the 'where were you when the drugs went missing' question; now he remembered.

He turned the shower off, reached for a towel and dried off. As he headed to his bedroom to pull on some comfortable clothes, his mind wandered back five years.

"God Lennie, you look like death warmed over," observed his fellow detective Brian Torricelli.

"Yeah, I feel like it too," answered Lennie.

"Why don't you take a sick day?" Brian asked.

"I'm out," Lennie admitted.

"Look, your partner's not in today, right?" Lennie nodded and then winced, his head protesting being moved while so badly hung-over.

"Tell the captain you're going out to run down something on a case, and just go home. I'll sign you out when I leave today," Brian offered.

"You're a pal, I'll pay you back someday," Lennie promised.

Lennie wondered if Flynn had overheard that conversation that day, but he couldn't recall if John had been there or not.

He remembered gratefully going home and having a bit of the hair of the dog that bit him, and then sacking out in his unmade bed until the phone rang. He decided to let the answering machine get it as he wasn't suppose to be home, that is until he heard the disappointment in Betty's voice.

"Hi, how did you know I was at home?" he asked.

"I'm detective, remember?" she teased and they both laughed. "I called the precinct looking for you and was told you were working leads on the Kinsey case, since we'd both agreed yesterday that we'd exhausted all the leads, I put 2 and 2 together and figured out that you were playing hooky. Now what I want to know is, would you like some company?"

"If the company is you, always."

"I'll be there in half an hour."

Lennie went into single-guy-with-girlfriend-coming-over panic mode. He rounded up the clothes he'd left lying all over the floor the night before and got them in the laundry hamper, then he stripped his bed and put fresh sheets on it. He didn't think he'd have time to do the dishes and make himself a bit more presentable, so he put the dirty dishes in the oven. A quick shower and change of clothes, and he deemed himself and his apartment presentable. He'd no more than made that assessment when the doorbell rang.

"Hi,' Betty said with a smile.

"Hi," Lennie answered and pulled her into his apartment and then into a kiss.

When they pulled out of the kiss, Betty said, "Mm, you smell good, fresh out of the shower huh?" Lennie nodded and kissed her again. "God, I've missed you, she added.

"Missed me? We worked together yesterday." Lennie said a bit confused by her statement.

"Yeah, but it's been over a week since we've made love," she answered in explanation.

"Ah yes, well let's fix that right now," he said as he began to lead her to his bedroom.

"No need to rush, we've got all afternoon, all evening and all night," she told him with a smile as she started unbuttoning his shirt.

"You can stay the night?" Lennie asked surprised and hopeful.

"Yes, the boys are at my Mom's and my husband's out of town on business," she answered, as she pulled the tails of his shirt out of his pants and began working on his belt. He stopped her hands, pulling them up to his mouth to kiss.

"Well, then let's slow down and enjoy ourselves, OK?" he suggested.

Lennie came out of his reverie and found that he was still holding the clothes he'd chosen and that at least one part of his body was remembering that afternoon vividly.

"Down boy, that was only a memory and she's just a friend now," Lennie tried to explain to his libido.

"A friend I intend to protect. I've got to find away out of this jam Flynn's got me in, without using Betty as an alibi witness!" he said emphatically.

After he finished dressing, he decided to have Chinese delivered. As he picked up his phone, he saw his answering machine flashing. He heaved a sigh and resolved to listen to the messages as soon as he finished ordering dinner.

Most of the messages were ones he was expecting, the Lieu and Rey, both worrying about him; his second ex-wife asking him if he'd done what Flynn accused him of, Jack McCoy saying he wanted to talk to him and one that shocked him, John Flynn.

"Sorry Lennie, but we all know that eventually you reap what you sow," Flynn's voice taunted.

"Son of a bitch!" Lennie yelled at the machine. He picked the answering machine up with the thought of smashing the machine against the wall, but stopped short and settled for just jabbing the button that would erase the message.

He paced a bit and then sat down, put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, getting through these next few days without a drink was going to take a lot of work on his part, and a lot of help from his higher power.

Lennie came into work the day after Flynn accused him of stealing drugs from the 1-16's property room and was immediately called into the Lieutenant's office.

"Morning Lieu," Lennie said trying to sound like his usual cheerful self. "Sorry about not signing out yesterday," he added.

"Understandable, take a seat Lennie," Lennie complied, sitting across for Van Buren in a relaxed posture as though he had no cares.

"Look I know Flynn's lying about you, but until this mess gets straightened out, you're on desk duty," she said gently.

"I figured as much," Lennie said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Lennie, if there's something I can do," she trailed off.

"No, but thanks, I think this is something where you and the rest of the squad are better off staying clear," Lennie suggested.

"Lennie, we aren't going to let Flynn drag you down on this," she promised.

"Lieu, please don't let anybody do something stupid, especially not Rey. I know him; he's got to be eaten up with Catholic guilt about now, feeling like this is somehow his fault. You make sure he knows I don't blame him," Lennie requested.

"Why don't you just tell him that yourself?" she asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"I'm just not up to talking with him right now. Don't get me wrong. I'm not upset with Rey, but he can be pretty self-righteous, and this stuff with Flynn is bringing up things that happened at a time of my life when I wasn't exactly a straight arrow. I'd never steal drugs like Flynn's saying, but I did things back then that I'm not proud of, and some of it's bound to come out," Lennie explained.

"I understand, but sooner or later you're going to have to talk with him about this," she said.

"Yeah I know," he said standing up. "Can I go now?"

"Sure, send Rey and Profaci in would you?" she asked as he started to leave.

"Oh great, Rey's going to love that assignment," Lennie commented as he left.

As the day wore on, Lennie grew irritable, he saw people looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked at them they'd glance away. He wished they'd just come out and ask him about it. Grill him if they wanted to, it would be easier than the silence.

Once the subpoena from the Hellman commission arrived, Lennie talked to his PBA attorney. He was honest with the guy, but told him he absolutely would not use his alibi witness, in fact would not provide her name to the lawyer, needless to say the guy wasn't pleased.

Testifying wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. It was hard to admit that he'd been derelict in his duty because of his alcoholism, but it was actually easy to lie about what he'd been up to and about not having someone to corroborate his whereabouts when the drugs were stolen. He'd half convinced himself that he was asleep when the drugs were taken, as he had a tendency to nod off right after he and Betty made love, and if she'd fallen asleep too, then she couldn't really alibi him. It was a twisted way to think maybe, but it made things easier for him to bear.

"_Jamie, did you talk to a detective Betty Abrams?"_ Jack McCoy asked, removing a taped phone message off his office door.

"_No,"_ Jamie answered curiously.

"_She says she has information that could help Lennie Briscoe,"_ he informed her.

"Well, I guess we better talk to her," Jamie said, sounding more hopeful than she had in days.

"Thank you for coming forward detective Abrams, I know this can't be easy," Jack said as he offered Betty a seat.

"It's not a matter of whether it's easy or not, I just can't let a good cop's career be ruined by the likes of Flynn," she explained.

"So what sort of information do you have for us?" Jack asked.

Betty took a deep breath, and then succinctly explained how she was Lennie's alibi.

Jack glanced up at Jamie. "I see," Jack started.

"Mr. McCoy if you won't present what I have to say to the commission, then I'll call them myself," she said emphatically.

"No need, Detective Abrams. I'll bring your testimony to the attention of the commission, but you've got to realize that they're going to be very tough on you," he warned her.

"I know. I'm not a green rookie. I know how I'll be treated," she assured Jack.

"All right, I'll arrange to have you appear as a rebuttal witness as soon as possible," Jack promised.

When she left Jamie all but pounced on Jack, "That wasn't much of a prep given what Hellman and his cronies are likely to do to her."

"You heard what she said. She's no green rookie. She knows what to expect," jack repeated what Betty had said to try to placate Jamie.

"Being a cop on a witness stand and seeing witnesses grilled isn't the same thing as being in the hot seat yourself. We should have put her through a mock cross. She needs to understand before she goes in there, how Hellman's going to make her look," Jamie argued.

"No, she'll be more effective if she'd not rehearsed, if she comes across naturally, otherwise she really will look like she's making it up just to save Lennie's hide," McCoy countered.

"I hope you're right, because if you're not, she's going to be like a lamb to the slaughter, and Lennie's not going to like that at all," Jamie observed.

Lennie couldn't believe what he'd heard was true, but sure enough when he walked into the hearing room, there was Betty preparing to testify. He moved around to where he could get Jack McCoy's attention and called him out into the hallway. As hard as it was, he waited until the door closed before he started in on Jack.

"_If you don't take her out of there right now, I'll kick your ass from here to Hoboken!"_ Lennie threatened.

"_She came to me. I told her what she was in for."_ Jack responded trying to justify what was going on.

"_This is a big mistake!"_ Lennie insisted.

"_She said if I didn't call the committee she would,"_ Jack continued trying to explain.

"_I don't care! Nothing good comes from this,"_ Lennie said vehemently.

"_This really isn't up to you anymore,"_ Jack said, and with that Lennie had to give up and go back inside and listen to Betty's testimony.

Listening to her testify in front of a packed courtroom and a TV audience that she had been with him when the drugs were stolen and had stayed the night, and then listening to Hellman's cross-examination of her was all incredibly painful, and as Lennie had expected, it hadn't really helped. Hellman had made Betty out to be a liar and worse.

When Lennie saw Hellman go into the men's room with his assistants, he wasn't sure exactly what he had in mind. Later, he was glad the two aides had been there or he'd have done a good bit more than accuse Hellman of getting off on humiliating innocent people and calling him a sick son of a bitch or telling him Flynn and he deserved each other and he hoped they both rotted in hell.His temper was still pretty high, as he made sure John J. McCoy knew his intentions to 'do it my way', and so he marched off to find a tech he trusted to help him with the 'wire' he needed.

"What if he wants to pat you down, Lennie?" the tech asked him.

"Don't worry, an old partner of mine showed me how to place a wire so no guy's gonna find it without I got a right to bust him in the chops," Lennie answered and the techie grinned and shook his head.

"That much information I didn't need to know," he added.

Waiting to confront Flynn had unnerved Lennie a bit. It wasn't the wire he was wearing, but being in the pews of a Catholic church. His mom had raised him Catholic, but Lennie wasn't sure what faith might claim him now. He believed in a higher power but he wasn't sure he could give it a name or worship it with ceremonies like his Mom and his Aunts did. As Lennie sat contemplating what he'd say to John to get him to tell the truth about the drugs, he wasn't sure what sin or sins he was committing with what he was trying to do, but he knew he didn't feel completely right about it. He kept hearing his Mom's voice telling him "Leonard, two wrongs don't make a right". He wondered, 'what does make a wrong right then?'

Although his conversation with Flynn eventually yielded John's confession, and that's what Lennie had been after all along, John's parting words concerned him greatly. He'd said, _"You'll be OK now, Lennie"_. Even though John had seemed initially to take the reassurance that Lennie wasn't wired, in the end he still acted as though he knew he was, and as though he were resigned to it and what it would bring. Later Lennie would look back on that moment in the church and realize John had been planning his suicide all along. Lennie wondered if there was a measure of guilt that he should feel over John's suicide, maybe there was, but in the chaos of his current emotions there wasn't room.

Finally he was back where he belonged, in the rotation, as the lead detective of the homicide squad in the 27th precinct. He patted one of the other detectives on the back as he headed towards his desk.

"_Looks like Hector Garcia's back in town,"_ said Rey.

"_Yeah he probably heard that Flynn's dead and we can't touch him,"_ Lennie observed as he put his coat on preparing to leave the squad room for the evening.

"_Hey you want to go somewhere for dinner?"_ Rey offered.

"_Can't, got to see an old friend. She's got a little 'situation' with her family_," Lennie said by way of begging off.

Rey watched Lennie leave in amazement.

"Something wrong Rey?" Anita asked.

"I don't know, you tell me. I asked Lennie if he wanted to go to dinner and he said he couldn't because he has to go see an old friend, because she's got a little 'situation' with her family. Now just which old female friend of Lennie's do you think is having a little 'situation' with her family right about now?" Rey asked sounding perturbed.

"Well, I'd hazard a guess that Betty Abrams is. Do you have a problem with Lennie's going to see her about it?" Anita asked.

"Well, don't you think it's a pretty stupid thing to do? I mean he's got to be at the root of her troubles doesn't he?" Rey blustered.

"Maybe, maybe not, but seeing as how she stuck her neck way out on a limb for him, I'd say if she wants to see him when she's got trouble, the least he can do is come a running when she calls," Anita replied.

"Well, all I know is, if I was Betty Abrams' husband I'd want to kick Lennie's ass but good," Ray declared.

"You ever take a real good look at your partner's face, Rey? I think a few jealous husbands may have beaten Mr. Abrams to the punch on that score. Look what are you worried about? Lennie is a grown man. He knows how to make his own decisions and how to live with the consequences of them. If he's messing up by seeing this woman tonight, well that's his business not yours, OK?" she asked him.

"OK," Rey moodily agreed and she shooed him out of the squad room, as she didn't want him to see her worrying.


End file.
